Machine for trimming hat-brims.



No. 783,527. PATENTED FEB.28,1905. A. KINDERMANN.

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING HAT BRIMS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE11,1904.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTO/P/YEYS PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

A. KINDERMANN.

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING HAT BRIMS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 190'1.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WT/VZZSS S fl TTOR/YEXS of the presser-foot.

No. rsaser.

ITE 1| STATES Patented February 28, 1905.

PATENT FFIcE.

AUGUST KINDERMANN, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,527, dated February 28, 1905. Application filed June 11,1904. Serial No. 212,096.

To all 1071/0172, 21!; ntrty concern.-

Be it known that I, Aneusrr KIND ERMANN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Trimming Hats and the Like, of which the following is a full. clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to machines for trimming the brims of hats, and has for its object cutting or trimming the edges of the brims mechanically and with unifm'mity, which is accomplished by the use of a form or pattern in connection with my improved construction and arrangement of parts, as will more fully hereinafter appear and be described.

My invention is equally as well adapted for other uses -that is. where a uniform and regular outline is desired whether the material be straw, linen, felt, leather, or metal; and the object of the invention is to provide a machine of a simple and inexpensive nature which shall be adapted for use in trimming the raw edges of articles of various forms or shapes rapidly and at the same time in a uniform manner.

My improved machine is more especially designed for use in trimming the brims of hats made of any material and to overcome the various ditliculties heretofore encountered in the use of machines of this character.

In illustrating my invention I have shown in the drawings a method of connecting up or driving my improved machine; but it will be readily understood that any suitable driving mechanism and gearing that will give the various operative parts their properly timed speed or movement may be substituted for that shown in the drawings.

In practice it is found that one of the greatest difficulties encountered is the buckling of the material to be trimmed, which results in a tear or a ragged edge and frequently in the entire destruction of the hat or object sought to be trimmed.

In the drawings which form a part of my specification. Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of same. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view Fig. 4 shows the lever and clutch in detail, whereby the feeding mechanism is thrown into or out of operation. Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 1 looking to the right, showing the cross-head in section and the hand-wheel portions broken away. Fig. 6 is a front View of the part of the presser-foot, showing the guide-wheels and guide for the form which is placed over the hat or article to be trimmed. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the same looking to the left as it is seen in Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a view taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 1 to show the internal gearing for the feed-wheel, the cover for the gearing being removed; and Fig. 9 shows one style of form employed by me.

Like letters of reference indicate identical parts in the variousligures.

A is the upright or standard secured on a suitable base or table B.

U is a horizontal portion or cross-head secured to the standard A in any suitable manner, and the cross-head in turn supports the vertical arm D, to which the presser-foot E is secured and has sliding movement in.

F and G are band-wheels about which the band-saw H takes. The wheel F is mounted on the shaft a, which is secured to the crosshead O. Mounted on the same shaft and intermediate of the band-wheel F and the crosshead C is a pulley I), (see Figs. 9. and 5,) about which the driving-belt takes, whereby power is imparted to the band-wheel from the auxiliary shaft I, which shaft in turn receives its power from the power-shaft J through the intermediate shaft and beveled gearing K. (See Fig. 2.) The belt which passes around the pulley 7) also takes about the pulley c on the auxiliary shaft I. The pulley '7) is loosely mounted on the shaft or axle a, while the band-wheel F is securely fastened thereto. I provide the well-known style of clutch consisting of coacting projections on the baudwheel F and pulley Z), so that when the lever (Z, which engages with the collar (Z on the hub of the pulley Z), is pressed in one direction and against the action of the spring a thereon the constantly-revolving pulley 7) will, by reason of the clutch mechanism, revolve the bandwheel F. The lever (i is provided with a knob or handle at its outward end, which has a sleeve taking over the end of the lever and is loosely secured thereto. This sleeve f is pro-' vided with a pin (2, which takes through a slot in the bracket f when the lever is pressed inward, so that when the clutch is thrown into operation and the knob or handle, with its sleeve f, is turned the pin 6' will butt against the inside of the bracket f and prevent the lever being thrown back by the action of the spring 6. I find this simple construction a rather desirable one; but of course it will be understood that other means may be used whereby the pulley b and band-wheel F may be thrown into operative connection. The construction that I have been describing can be more clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 5. In Fig. 4: I show a similar style of clutch, except that in this case instead of operating the same by hand it is intended to operate the same by the foot-lever g. This clutch is the one whereby the feeding mechanism is thrown into and out of operation, the shaft to being provided with the pulleys h and 2', the latter being securely mounted on the shaft a, while the pulley h is secured to its sleeve h, which takes over the shaft (6 and slides thereon. In this case the action of the spring 9 throws the clutch into operation when the foot-lever g is released. This axle a, with its pulleys and clutch mechanism, may be mounted at any convenient point on the table B, either on its under side or above, at such point, however, that a belt may pass from the pulley j on the power-shaftJ to the pulley secured to the axle or shaft (0. (See Fig. 2.) A belt takes about the pulley 7i and around pulley it, (see Fig. 1,) which pulley It is secured on the pin k, to which is also secured the pinion Z. (See Fig. 1.) This pinion Z meshes with a pinion Z, which is secured to the pin k, on which is also secured the pinion Z", which meshes with the teeth on the inside of the feed-wheel Z, the outer surface of the feed-wheel being provided with a serrated or roughened surface. The feed-wheel is mounted on the pin u.

The presser-foot E takes into the vertical arm D, as can be more clearly seen in Fig. 3, and is under spring-pressure. I employ the well-known style of lever-and-link connection or 12 the link having pivotal connection with the upper end of the presser-foot E and with one end of the lever m, the lever m being pivoted on the vertical arm D. It will be seen that by pressing the lever m downwardly the presser-foot E will be pressed upward by the link 7; against the action of the spring within the vertical arm.D, which action will bring the pivotal point of the lever m to the link 02 above and to the opposite side of the pivotal point of the lever m, so that it will be locked in place.

In Fig. 9 I illustrate the style of form I employ. It will of course be understood that the forms vary according to the shape of the brims of'the various styles of hats or objects to be trimmed. This form comprises a body portion 0, which corresponds with the hat to be trimmed and fits over the same. The brim of the form is provided with a ridge 0, which may consist of small strips of leather or heavy cardboard or the like, which can be tacked on the brim of the form along its edge, this ridge, of course, following the edge of the brim.

In practice I place the form over the hat to be trimmed and place the two on the feedwheel Z immediately beneath the presserfoot, and by throwing the lever 9i upwardly the presser-foot E is put down on top of the form on the hat about to be trimmed. The presser-foot is provided with a vertical roller 19 and a horizontally-mounted roller 19, as can more clearly be seen in Figs. 6 and 7. The roller p is provided with a flange, as seen in Fig. 7. The ridge 0' on the form 0 is passed back of the roller p, but is of such width as to come within the flange on the roller 19. Both of these rollers 19 and p are loosely mounted on pins secured to the lower end of the presserfoot E, and they will tend to keep the form in proper position. The rollers 9 and p, as will be seen in Fig. 6, are placed at the end of the horizontal lug on the presser-foot E. The

presser-foot is also provided with a pair of fingers q 9, one taking over the ridge 0 on the form,while the other butts againt the same, and as these fingers are placed, as will be seen in Figs. 6 and 7, a little distance from the rollers 12 and 12 they tend to prevent any side play or vibration of the form with the hat to be trimmed, and thus insure a positive and direct feed. I find it quite essential to provide some such means, as the form with the hat to be trimmed is very apt in practice to be shifted slightly in a horizontal direction and either thus throwing the brim of the hat into or away from the band-saw, and thus failing entirely in the result intended to be accomplished by my invention, and this guiding mechanism, it has been found, is absolutely necessary for the successful operation of a machine of this sort.

In order that any slack or stretching which may occur in the band-saw H may be taken care of and the saw kept taut, I prefer to mount the band-wheel G in a box sliding in the housing 7', (see Fig. 1,) which housing is secured to the under side of the table B. The boxing to which the pin or shaft 5- is secured, on which the band-wheel Gr is mounted, may be adjusted to the desired position by a screw 8' taking through the lower end of the housing r, the screw being of course operatively connected with the boxing. As this is a wellknown form of mechanism for accomplishing the result to be attained, I do not go into a further detailed description, nor do I believe it necessary to further illustrate this mechanism than as shown in Fig. 1.

As the tendency of the hat being fed against the saw is to press the band-saw slightly out of line, I secure to the vertical 'arm D (see Fig. 8) a small friction-roller t, which takes against the rear edge of the band-saw and prevents its being pressed out of line, and by reason of the roller being arranged to revolve a frictional bearing is provided. This frictional roller is on the opposite side of the vertical arm I), as shown in Fig. 1.

i. am aware that hat-trimming machines have been heretofore employed in which knives or cutting-disks were used; but the difficulties encountered with constructions ofthis kind have been rather serious and in a good many cases the machines themselves proving total failures. ()ne serious objection to a machine employing knives or cuttingdisks has been that the brim of the hat would frequently buckle and either result in a tear or drawing away of the hat from the knives. With my improved machine, in which I employ a band-saw, together with the guides I have heretofore described, this diiiiculty is overcome, and it becomes impossible for the hat with its form to become thrown out of or pulled away from the direct line of feed.

Heretofore in machines of this class it has been customary to employ forms stamped out of metal, which are very expensive. My forms are very inexpensive to manufacture, as they may consist of the linen or goods from which hats are frequently made, and a narrow strip of cardboard or leather tacked to the edge of the brim and around the same may form the ridge. It of course is understood that the form should be of a suflicient size to take over the hat to be trimmed, so that the ridge may be on top of the brim and passes between the guide-rollers and fingers on the presser-foot.

The form, with the hat inserted therein, may be supported from above by a cord or wire from the center of the crown in such a manner that it may revolve through the machine, but at the same time support the weight of the form and hat, so as not to break or bend the brim. This l. have not illustrated in the drawings, as it will be readilyunderstood and needs no illustration.

I have simply illustrated and described one arrangement and style of mechanism for accomplishingthe resultdesired to be attainechas, for instance, a circular saw might be employed instead of a band-saw; but 1 do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theprecise construction of machine shown in the drawings; but

W hat 1 do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A machine for trimming the brims of hats which have been shaped and set, comprising a frame, band-wheels mounted on said frame, a band-saw adapted to take about said wheels, a presser-foot secured to the frame, guides secured to the bottom of the presserfoot, and feed-wheel secured to the frame, in

combination with a form taking over the hat to be trimmed and provlded with a ridge adapted to pass between said guides, substanadapted to take over the hat to be trimmed,

said form provided with a ridge adapted to take between the guide-rollers, substantially as shown and described.

3. An organized trimming-machine, substantially as described, having a saw, a feedwheel, a spri ng-actuated presser-foot arranged above the feedwheel, a pair of guide-rollers, the one adapted to revolve in a vertical direction and the other in a horizontal direction, and adjustable band-wheels mounted in the frame of the machine about which the saw takes, sub stantially as shown and described.

4.. In a machine for trimming hats and the like, comprising a frame supporting a drivingshaft, a pair of band-wheels, mounted on the frame, and mechanism whereby said wheels are thrown into or out of operative connection, the combination of a band-saw taking about said band-wheels, food-wheel mounted on the frame, a presser-foot arranged above the feedwheel, a set of guide-rollers on the presserfoot horizontally and vertically disposed, the vertically disposed roller provided with a flange, a guide-finger arranged on the presserfoot in ad Vance of the guide-rollers, with means I for throwing the feed-wheel into and out of operation, substantially as shown and described.

5. An organized trimmingmachine substantially as d ascribed, comprising the frame, a saw mounted thereon,a feed-wheel, a presserfoot, a pair of guide-rollers, horizontally and vertically disposed, and means for keeping the saw in its proper vertical plane, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

6. -In a machine for trimming hats and the like, comprising the frame, drive shafts mounted thereon, the combination of bandwheels adjustably secured to the frame, a band saw taking about said band-wheels, a springactuated presser-foot, a friction-roller adapted to take against the rear edge of the saw and keep it in its proper vertical plane, an internally-toothed feed-wheel gearing meshing with said teeth and inclosed within said wheel, with guiding mechanism arranged above the feed-wheel, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

7. In a machine for trimming hats and the like, comprising a frame, drive-shafts, and feed-wheel, the combination of means for normally holding the object to be trimmed on the feed wheel, guide-rollers above said feedwheel, whereby the object being trimmed is held against vertical or lateral movement, a saw suitably mounted on said frame, mechanism providing a frictional bearing for the saw to prevent the saw from being pressed out of its proper plane, with mechanism for throwing the feed-Wheel into and out of operation. substantially as shown and described.

8. In an organized hat-trimming machine, substantially as described, a band-saw, adjust able band-wheels therefor mounted on the frame of the machine, and a pair of guiderollers, in combination with a form to take over the hat to be trimmed, said form provided with a rib or ridge adapted to pass be- AUGUST KINDERMANN.

Witnesses:

JAMES L. FOLEY, GEORGE HEIDMAN. 

